A Forgotten Past Now Recovered
by Autobot Guardian
Summary: Over thirteen years ago, Stein and Spirit had gone on a fateful mission that erased the last two years of Stein's memories. Now, he's desperate to find what he's forgotten... but it ends up being much more than anyone could have guessed. Now that he's found his lost past, there are many more challenges to overcome, including battles, holidays, and... love? NOTE: Collaboration!
1. What Am I Forgetting?

" _A Forgotten Past Now Recovered - A Parody of Wandering Soul"_

 **Disclaimer: 1000Anime. And Autobot Guardian Do Not Own Soul Eater! Atsushi Okubo Does! We only own Lorranna, Poppy, the other OCs, and the story. The songs used also belong to their rightful owners. All other characters belong solely to Okubo-Sama.**

 **This story is purely a Parody of our first story,** **Wandering Soul** **.**

 **(For those of you wondering, 1000Anime is going to be posting** **Wandering Soul** **to her own account, and has already posted a few chapters on Wattpad. Again, this is a collaboration, and those who know me well know that I often do different versions of the same story. Please enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 : What Am I Forgetting?**

Death City. Location of the DWMA (Death Weapon Meister Academy), and home to Lord Death himself. It is also a place where Meisters and their Weapon partners come to learn how to defeat evil, such as the Kishins, who are corrupt souls.

At the Academy, as a class was in session, the students were itching to get out because of the teacher's chosen lesson. Another dissection lab.

"And that's it," the grey-haired professor said, sitting back from the dissected frog and turning the giant screw he had sticking through his skull. "Class is dismissed…"

No sooner than those words came out of his mouth did most of the class disappear, although a few students hung back. Their instructor had seemed more distant than usual this time, and they were a little worried.

"Professor?" a brunette girl with large green eyes asked, attracting their scarred Professor's attention.

"Yes, Maka? What is it?"

"Are you feeling ok? You seemed a little… distracted," Maka asked, feeling a little silly when he looked at her with that expressionless gaze he nearly always had. Then, to her surprise, he sighed.

"I guess it was only a matter of time before anyone noticed…" he said softly, causing the other students who had stayed to look at him oddly. Then, he looked back at Maka. "I've been having a little more trouble sleeping than usual, that's all."

"Why aren't you able to sleep?" a blue-haired boy asked, and the professor turned the screw in his head a few times before he answered.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," he said, before adding, "but I keep feelinging like I've forgotten something important… I just can't figure out what it is…"

The students looked at each other in confusion. They wanted to point out that maybe the screw was in the way, but none of them could really bring themselves to say it. Then, finally, a taller girl with long, black hair spoke up softly.

"Professor, maybe we can help you?" she asked, and he looked at her in surprise. "Maybe we just need to find something that will remind you of whatever you've forgotten…"

"Studies _have_ shown that a physical object or a specific sound can remind someone…" the scientist mused as he nodded, turning the screw back and forth a few more times. It seemed like a nervous habit of his. Or maybe he was trying to shake some hidden memory loose with it. Who knows with this guy…

"Maybe you just need to go around town; it could be a certain place that you've not been to in a while," a gold-eyed boy with three white stripes in the left side of his black hair said, adding, "Besides, it will probably be good for you to get out for a little bit."

"Professor Stein," Maka said, and they all looked at her, "Could we go out in town with you over the weekend? After all, we don't have anything to do, and tomorrow is Saturday."

"Thank you, Maka," Stein said, smiling a little, "I probably _do_ need to get out more…"


	2. Walking Around Town! A Mysterious Figure

**Chapter 2 : Walking Around Town! A Mysterious Figure?**

On Saturday, Stein and the seven students went out into the town to do some exploration, along with Maka's father, Spirit a.k.a. Death Scythe. The redheaded man didn't really feel comfortable with his little girl near Stein without another adult nearby, so he tagged along, much to Maka's dismay.

"Papa, you didn't have to come, we're perfectly safe with Professor Stein," the brunette said in irritation, but her father wasn't leaving.

"Maka, as your father…"

"Professor?" Maka saw that the scientist had stopped cold in his tracks when they had arrived in a quiet little neighborhood, and that he was just staring off into nothing. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, just started to look confused and distant. He didn't react to anyone else, either, not even when Black Star waved his hand in front of his face. Then, Stein's head turned sharply, as if he was seeing something, and when they followed his gaze, they saw a dark figure darting across the rooftops.

The figure paused, as if it noticed that someone was watching, and turned to look in their direction. All they could make out of their face was a strip of exposed skin and their eyes, which were too far away to determine their color. Then, the figure darted out of sight behind other buildings, and soon Stein was back to normal.

"Professor, what happened there?" Maka asked, as the scientist put a hand to his forehead with a very confused expression. When he looked at her, he nearly looked like he was in pain from concentration.

"I'm… not sure…" he said softly, then continued, "their soul… it felt… familiar… But I'm not sure from when… or where…"

"That doesn't make sense, Stein," Spirit said, now also confused. "You've always been able to correctly identify every soul you've ever come across even if you met them once, and you're saying that you don't know who that was?"

"I've been having trouble remembering something…" Stein said cooly, regaining his stoic expression, "Spirit, I have to figure out what I've forgotten, or I might truly go mad. I'm already getting too little sleep as it is…"

"That's why we came out to explore with the Professor, Papa," Maka told her father, who looked at her in surprise. "We're trying to find something that might help him to remember."

"There's more," Stein suddenly said, and everyone looked at him in surprise. "There was another soul with that familiar one, one that I don't recognize, but I know it may have been a weapon. That means the one we saw was a Meister."

"We'll tell Lord Death about this, but for now, let's walk around some more," Spirit said, and everyone smiled in agreement, even Stein.

However, as they started walking again, the scientist frowned in confusion. 'What am I forgetting?'

* * *

When the day ended, the group had explored less than half of the city, only finding a few things that Stein felt might be connected to whatever he had forgotten. Strangely enough, those had been a music shop, a café, a specific lamppost, and a floral shop.

"What connection could all those things have, Stein?" Spirit asked, once they were back at the Academy. They had photos of the places they had found, and the scientist was scrutinizing them carefully.

"I'm not sure…" he said slowly, his voice nearly flat but with an undercurrent of frustration and confusion. "If only I knew where I put my photo album, it might give us some clues…"

"Photo album?" Death Scythe asked, shocked. Stein nodded.

"Yes. For a very long time, I kept a photo album with me to record memories. Journals, too. But a few years ago, I had placed them all in a box in my lab, and now I don't know where it is…"

Spirit shuddered at the idea of willingly walking into his crazy ex-partner's lab, but he also realized that Stein was slowly going even more insane because of this feeling of forgetting something important. He could see the dark circles that had appeared under the Meister's grey-green eyes, as well as how he looked more exhausted than he had a week ago.

"Maybe the kids and I could help you look through things," Spirit offered before he could stop himself, but he was surprised when Stein looked at him with a hopeful expression that looked very odd on his face. Spirit had never seen him wearing that expression before, and he had to admit that it was better than his usual manic smile.

"That would be greatly appreciated, Spirit… thank you…"


	3. The Hunt For The Box of Memories!

**Chapter 3 : The Hunt For The Box of Memories! Why Does Stein Have So Much Stuff?!**

When Sunday morning came, Spirit and Stein both drove separate cars to transport the seven others to where the latter's laboratory was located next to a cemetery, eager to see if they could find Stein's lost box of mementos.

Hopefully, they would find it, and it could help him remember.

When they arrived, the place was just as dark and dreary as they remembered it, the architecture itself appearing to have been stitched together. Stein, once he got out of the car, was digging in his pockets for the key to the door, while the others looked around nervously.

As the door opened, it made an eerie creaking sound that sent shivers down their spines, the sound similar to one they might hear in an old horror movie. Giving no sign that the he was bothered by it, Stein walked in with no hesitation, the others close behind.

The group made their way through Stein's lab, they saw signs of different projects in different stages of completion along several work tables. Death Scythe couldn't stop jumping from one dark corner of the building to another, worried that something would jump out and scare his poor Maka…. Or him. Wouldn't be the first time something in Stein's house did that, remembering his younger days with the Meister.

Several doors were passed until they came across one that had a sign hanged on it, reading "Do Not Disturb" and "Private" written in stark red and black lettering, which Stein used another key to open. Once inside, the kids saw a medium sized room that had dust covering several flat surfaces, including an old desk and white cabinet, yellowed in age.

Stein immediately went to work without a word, sifting through countless boxes that littered along the walls, stacked on top of each other. Seeing this, the kids couldn't help but feel a little sad for their professor, worried what might actually be wrong with him. Death Scythe, who was still scared of his old partner, was also concerned for him. He and the man had been through a lot together, and knew each other very well. The fact Stein had gotten this bad was on the border of becoming an omen for something to happen- good or bad.

"Where do we start?" Maka whispered, looking around at the daunting task ahead of them. Stein looked equally frazzled, if not a little embarrassed by the sheer amount of clutter in this room, as he looked through the boxes on the surface layer.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm digging in!" Black Star yelled out as he took a hold of a box from the bottom of the tallest pile in the room. Tsubaki, seeing the stack begin to fall down, cried out for him to stop. "Black Star! Wait!" But it was too late for the boy as the stack of boxes fell on top of him.

With the boy incapacitated after they managed to dig him out, the search through the boxes ended up taking longer than they expected, deciding to take a break after looking for close to two hours.

Along their search, they found old address books, pictures of flowers, recipes on how to brew the best cup of coffee, and even old sheets of piano music that looked to be carefully organized based on the composer's last name. During part of their search, Soul and Death Scythe found a smaller room that had an old grand piano in the center of the room, collecting dust. When they had asked Stein about it, showing the piano to him, he had walked over to it and stroked it lovingly, as if remembering a fond memory. Then, he had sat down on the bench, uncovering the piano keys. Going off of a fuzzy memory that was just coming back, he played a soft tune that sounded strangely like a lullaby, each note gentle and sweet.

Everyone had drifted into the room when they heard the music, watching their professor/friend as he drifted into his memories, a small and sad smile on his face as his head nodded slowly to the rhythm.

Upon another hour of searching, everyone was getting tired, ready to start again tomorrow and call it a day. Then, Tsubaki had found a box containing old baby clothes, a crib that had been used, small children's toys and such, and she asked, "What's this doing here?"

Death Scythe, seeing these, looked even harder at his friend, coming to some sort of a conclusion that maybe his friend had…..

Meanwhile, Stein was staring at the contents of the box with an expression that could only be described as heartbreak. With a shaking hand, he reached in and picked up a little cloth doll that had pale yellow yarn for hair and was wearing a flowery pink dress. As he stared at that doll in his hand, tears flooded his eyes, and he started to sob quietly, surprising the others around him.

"Stein?" Death Scythe placed a hand on his shoulder, peering over it to see what had caused him to react so. Seeing the doll, his face paled at the sight.

"I...I remember now…" Stein muttered softly as he caressed the small toy in his hand, scared that it would vanish from him. "How… how could I have forgotten…"

"Forgotten what, Professor?" Maka asked.

"My little girl…."


	4. Returning Memories! Stein's Lost Family?

**Chapter 4 : Returning Memories! Stein's Lost Family?**

Stein held the little blonde doll to his chest as he started to cry even more, as the others looked on in worry. The memories were coming back a little clearer now, especially the face of a little grey-green eyed baby girl smiling up at him as he held her in his arms. He didn't want to forget again, he couldn't let it happen again!

He had fallen to his knees at some point, his head hanging over his knees, as sobs shook his body as the memories were returning. How could he have forgotten his own baby girl? How?!

Vaguely, he could feel a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders, offering him comfort, but he flinched slightly at the physical contact. Eventually, however, he leaned into the embrace a little, unaware that it was young Maka that was hugging him.

The brunette had never seen her powerful, slightly-insane Professor break down like this. Ever. And seeing it now actually scared her, since she actually did look up to him as a role model in the sense that he was a powerful Meister. Now… now he seemed more human and broken than she had ever thought he could be. His soul was fluctuating wildly, like a sea tossed by a storm, as guilt, sorrow, and grief crashed over him.

She could also tell that the torrent of emotion was taking a toll on him, his strength fading slowly as brokenhearted sobs tore themselves from his throat. His tears were creating a little puddle on the stone floor, as he clutched the little doll like a lifeline.

Soon, the combination of his sleepless nights and the emotional meltdown had become too much for him, and his sobs quieted as he slowly fell asleep in the girl's arms, emotionally and physically exhausted.

"Professor?" Maka whispered softly, but got no response. She could hear his soft breathing, and realized that he had actually cried himself to sleep. This made her heart feel like it was breaking, seeing such a strong man reduced to this by the return of the memories he felt guilty for forgetting in the first place. Then, she looked up at her father. "Papa, do you know where his room is?"

Spirit looked at her in surprise, and then knelt next to her and Stein. "I think I remember… come on, let's get him to bed… he's had a rough day…"

With Kid and Soul's help, Death Scythe managed to pick up his former Meister, and the three of them carried him to another room that was surprisingly close by, where they found a bed with patchwork blankets and sheets on it, as well as a small computer desk and a dresser.

Looking at the broken man, Kid looked to Death Scythe as he asked an important question that he and the other boy had on his mind. "What could have caused Professor Stein to forget he had a family?"

Taking a moment and sighing deeply, Death Scythe only shook his head. "I would say a lot of things. The life of a Meister is not without some serious dangers; I can remember a number of occasions where missions Stein and I took on nearly took our lives" he paused, remembering one incident in particular. "This one time, back when we were only about eighteen years old, Stein was almost nineteen, our mission was to kill a certain Kishin that had a nasty habit of killing people even when he was full. They called him "Mad-eyed Jack", and he was a real piece of work; being a lot stronger than most Kishin souls. Thing nearly took my left eye and right leg during that fight. Stein got the worst of it, getting thrown hard enough that the doctor later said he was surprised he wasn't a vegetable, and was slashed across the face by a surprise attack." His eyes then widening as he remembered something. "Now that I think about it, that could have been when Stein lost his memory of having a kid. Would be around the right time as I recall him being wary of seriously dangerous missions and started developing an odd way with kids." Death scythe said, starting to put a name to his partner's behavior back then.

"But… what could have caused Professor Stein to forget so many memories by a single hit?" Soul asked, confused. "I mean, he lost a couple years worth of memories…"

Death Scythe shook his head. "When I had talked to the doctor, he said that the blow to Stein's face severely damaged the part of his brain that held his memories, and he had to operate fast just to keep him alive. Ever wondered where Stein got that screw that he fidgets with every so often?"

Soul and the others nodded, and Spirit sighed.

"He put that in his own head to try and make up for what he's lost. The purpose of that giant screw is to not only try and help him manage his mental instability, but also to attempt to fix memories in his brain. A lot of the time the memories stay by themselves, but sometimes they need that extra push."

When Maka heard this, her face fell slightly, turning to where Professor Stein slept, tears still threatening to fall from his closed eyes. She hadn't really liked the teacher, but he was a respected Meister that had successfully created a Death Weapon worthy of Death himself, so Maka felt it was her duty to help her fellow Meister through this until the end. And judging from the look on Soul Eater's face, he felt the same way.

Looking to her father, she asked him a question, "...Papa.. I want to help Professor Stein find his daughter." Spirit looked sharply as Maka spoke, an argument building on his lips, "and don't tell me not to! He has been through so much, and learning he had a daughter will put more stress on him than he already had! As a Meister, it's part of my duty to help others, so why not start with my teacher?!"


	5. A Lonely Soul

**Chapter 5 : A Lonely Soul. Wandering Through Death City**

As a black-clad figure darted over the rooftops of Death City, her kusarigama partner on her belt, she was thinking about the group of people that she had caught watching her a couple of days ago. She had sensed something… familiar about one of them, though she couldn't place the reason why. He had been watching her soul, she knew that much. That meant that he was from the legendary DWMA.

"Hey Lor….can we go back now? I'm getting sleepy…" a female voice spoke, coming from the weapon on her hip.

"Not yet Poppy. There is one last thing we have to do." the girl said, her name now revealed to be Lorranna. She and her weapon had come to the city from another in England on their joint mission to locate her father, who she had not seen since she was a toddler. Faint memories of the man painted a small mural in her mind of who he was: the smell of coffee and disinfectant that covered the scent of chemicals, a large pair of hands holding her above his head, a strong soothing voice that sung her to sleep...

Lorranna was so lost in thought she barely heard her companion's voice, not noticing that she had transformed back on her own and began waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hello!... You still there?" Snapping back to reality, Lorranna turned to her friend, hitting aside her hand. "Yes I'm here. Sorry… was thinking about something." Poppy's face turned into concern, worried for her friend. "You've been doing that a lot since we came to this town. Are you sure we can't just skip it?"

Lorranna's shook her head. "No, Poppy… It's a place mother said Papa visited often while they lived here… Come on, let's go look at that music shop she told us about…"

Poppy sighed, going back into kusarigama form. At least she could take a nap as a weapon…

Lorranna clipped her friend back on her belt, and then sprinted across the rooftops towards a little music shop that was in a less-visited part of the city. The shop itself was a cozy-looking place from the outside, and there were photos of people who frequented the store from different years on the front window.

Jumping down to look at the pictures, she saw one from around the year she was born, and was surprised to see a grey-haired teenage boy with her mom when she was younger. As she looked closer at the boy's face, she saw that he had the same eyes as her! Sadly, however, there were no names anywhere to say what the boy's name was; just the pictures. Then, deciding to ask the shop owner, she went inside, and a little bell dinged when she opened the door.

"Hello, young lady," a middle-aged man greeted her, coming out from behind the counter as she pulled down her mask and hood, revealing her face and her platinum blonde hair. "How may I help you? I haven't seen you around here before…"

"I'm new to the city… sort of," Lorranna said awkwardly, looking around. There was a variety of different musical instruments, as well as shelves and racks of sheet music, music books, and music CDs. "I just saw a photo of a young couple on the window, and I was wondering if you could tell me who they are?"

"Oh, you must mean Lucinda and Franken, correct?" the man asked, and Lorranna smiled. That was her mother's name alright, but the second name was unfamiliar to her. It must be her father's name!

"Yes, that one," she said, and the man chuckled.

"I remember those two well," he said, smiling at the memory. "They were so fond of each other, despite the fact that the young man was not very popular at his school. You see, young Franken was a Meister, but he had a few strange habits that many saw as some kind of freakish behavior."

"Like what?" Lorranna asked, desperate for more information on her mysterious father.

"Well, he had an obsession for anatomy, to put it simply," the shop owner said, shaking his head. "And he was slightly unstable, but he's also one of the best Meisters in history, according to Lord Death. Sadly, way back when, he suddenly stopped coming to the shop. When I asked around, I found out that he was severely injured during a mission, and was suffering from amnesia."

Lorranna's face fell tremendously at the news. If her father was really as injured as the man said, then there was a possibility that he wouldn't remember her…..

"You know, I've seen him around town a few times… he actually came to the shop again two days ago with a group of students from the Academy," the shop owner continued, looking up in thought. "He's changed a bit since I last saw him… got a big screw going through his head now. From what the younger ones were saying, they were trying to help him remember something important…"

Lorranna's head perked up again, her mind running a million miles an hour. Building up the nerve, she asked the man where Franken lived.

"From what I can recall, he lived at his lab a few miles from here near the graveyard," the man said.

"Thank you! Thank you very much sir!" Lorranna said happily, making a quick turn towards the door.

"Your welcome young lady, but why are you so dead set on him?" the shopkeeper asked, a quizzical look on his face.

"He might be my papa!"


	6. A Lonely Lullaby! Are You My Papa?

**Chapter 6 : A Lonely Lullaby… Are You My Papa?**

As Stein started to wake up, he could feel the little cloth doll still clutched in his right hand, and a few tears slid down his face. He reluctantly got out of bed… wait, what?! When did he get in bed in the first place?!

That's when he sensed Spirit and the students down the hall in one of the few spare rooms, their souls sound asleep.

Getting up slowly so the bed didn't make much sound, Stein found himself wandering back to the small piano room, where he sat down in front of the keys, his fingers hovering over them as he started to play an old, familiar tune. Then, softly, he started to sing...

" _Here's my father's lullaby, baby you don't have to cry. Now it's time to close your eyes, let's say goodnight. With my father's lullaby, now it's yours like it was mine. So it's time to close your eyes and say goodnight. 'Cause I hope that someday, when daylight has come, you'll be singing these same words to your little one…_ " he sang, as he played the melody on the grand piano, tears silently streaming down his face.

What Stein didn't know was that Maka, who had gotten up to use the bathroom, saw him walking to the piano and followed suit, hearing her teacher sing as his fingers played the lullaby along its keys, crying softly as well. She and her own father had had their moments when she was younger, moments that she would hold to as she got older, but watching her teacher break down in front of her made her feel sorry for him that his time with his own daughter had been taken from him. This was what she was fighting for, and she was determined to see to it that Professor Stein found his daughter.

Whoever she was, wherever, was lucky to have someone like Professor Stein as a father.

-time-skip to that morning-

The sun finally came, waking everyone in the house as they prepared to head home, needing to take a much needed shower and change clothes.

"We'll come back back tomorrow, Stein" Death Scythe said, placing a comforting hand on his friends shoulder as Stein stood in the hallway near the front door.

"Thank you, Spirit." said the man.

The students, who had hung back before, walked forwards to the two adults. But Maka, being the braver of the group, actually gave the Professor a hug around his middle, giving a slight squeeze.

"Don't worry Professor Stein. I'm sure that we'll find your daughter in no time!" she said, a large smile breaking across her face. Stein, touched by his student's action, then looked at the others who also gave their own encouraging smiles in return.

Just then, oddly enough, they heard a doorbell ringing coming from the front door before it opened, revealing two girls; one with blonde hair and the other a bright red. The blonde looked around the odd pattern of the walls for a moment before she noticed the group staring at the two in shock.

As the two groups looked at each other, an awkward pause permeated the room. Then, the blonde girl's gaze locked with that of Stein, and the two stared at each other.

And then, softly…

"Papa?"


	7. Reunion At Last! What Happened To You?

**Chapter 7 : Reunion At Last! What Happened To You?**

"Papa?" Everyone heard the blonde girl say, their eyes turned towards Stein, who stood with his shocked gaze fixed on her.

"Lorranna?" Stein's voice wavered, filled with emotion as gray-green eyes met another. His eyes were filling with tears again, as an image of a blonde-haired baby girl came to the forefront of his mind. Then, the young girl in front of him ran to him, wrapping her arms around his middle as she buried her face in his shirt, crying happily! Stein was frozen for a second, before a smile spread across his face, and he hugged his long-lost daughter back, tears of joy streaming down his face!

"Papa! I'm glad I found you!" Lorranna said joyfully, looking up at his face now. Stein was smiling back, but then it turned a little sad, and he hung his head in shame.

"I'm so sorry, Lorranna…" he whispered, closing his eyes, "I'm so sorry I forgot you… I… I didn't..." Stein cried as Lorranna held him in a tight hug.

Spirit could do nothing but cry as he watched his best friend and Meister reunite with his daughter, holding each other like they were each other's lifeline. Looking at the girl, who appeared not much older than his Maka, he noticed she looked similar to a girl Spirit had seen with Stein years ago.

That moment was possibly the happiest he had ever seen Stein outside of when he would experiment on things, holding a blonde girl's hand as he appeared to be listening without listening to whatever she was animatedly talking about, simply basking in her presence.

However, after that fateful mission, the girl seemed to have vanished along with Stein's memories, as if it never happened. After Spirit and the doctor did some careful questioning when the Meister had finally woken up, they discovered that he was missing two entire years of his memories, and Stein had been crushed when he found this out. He kept asking Spirit what had happened in the last two years, even as he dealt with frequent headaches and blackouts. Eventually, Stein holed himself up in his lab for a full month, and when he finally came back to the school, he had that huge screw sticking through his head. At first, Spirit had been horrified by this, but then he realized that Stein hadn't been passing out at all since then, and he wasn't assaulted by as many headaches anymore.

He had even desperately asked his former partner why he would do such a thing to himself, and Stein had simply explained what the screw was meant to do, and it sort of made sense, even though a lot of the science talk went way over his head. It took a little time, but eventually the giant screw became pretty normal for Stein, and life went on. Also, to Spirit's surprise, a few scattered memories of that lost two years came back every once in a while, but only in the time after the screw was added to the Meister's head.

Spirit then jerked himself back to the present, watching as Stein tearfully apologized over and over to his daughter to forgetting her, and finally, the Weapon decided to step in and do something.

"Stein," the redhead said gently, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't control the fact that you had amnesia, and you were injured. You may be one of the best Meisters in history, but not even you can control what is forgotten and what isn't."

"But…" Stein started to say, looking over at his former partner, who shook his head.

"No, Stein… stop beating yourself up about it," Spirit told him firmly, but his tone was gentle. "You were lucky that you didn't die in that fight… Amnesia isn't the worst thing that could have happened…"

"Listen to him, Papa…" the blonde girl said, and Stein looked back at her. "At least with you just forgetting you could remember again… But if you had died I wouldn't have a Papa at all…"

"Lorranna…" Stein whispered softly, more tears falling from his eyes as he looked down at her. Then, he got on his knees, coming more to eye level with her. Then, he asked, his voice barely audible, "Can you forgive me?"

"I already have, Papa," Lorranna said, hugging her father around the neck. Stein buried his face in her shoulder, his own arms wrapping around her smaller frame, as he started sobbing, not wanting to let go. The others watched this with tears in their own eyes, even Black Star and Soul were close to crying, and their very hearts were touched by seeing this new side to their admittedly-creepy Professor.

When the pair finally managed to calm down, Lorranna wiped her father's tears away, smiling brightly at the small smile he was giving her. That's when Stein seemed to finally process someone standing behind them; a red-haired girl with brown eyes and freckles that danced across her nose and cheeks.

"And who might this be? Your weapon?" Lorranna smiled, turning around to face her friend.

"Yeah. Papa, I want you to meet Poppy. She's a Kusarigama-Weapon, and she's been traveling with me to find you these past few years." Stein nodded at his daughter's explanation, holding out his hand towards the girl.

"Nice to meet you, Poppy. I'm glad my daughter had someone to travel with."

"Don't mention it, Lorranna's dad! If anything, I'm glad that I met her! She saved me from a really tough situation that I don't think I could have lived through without her help!"

Kid and his two weapons perked up slightly when they heard Poppy say this, sounding similar to their own meeting long ago.

Stein, standing up, mentioning to everyone that they could continue their conversation once they had a proper shower and a change of clothes with breakfast in their stomachs, to which everyone laughed in agreement.


	8. Family Talks! He Kept It All?

**Chapter 8 : Family Talks! He Kept It All?**

Somehow, to everyone's amazement, Spirit managed to fit everyone in his car, bidding Stein and the two girls farewell as he drove off.

Walking back inside the house/laboratory to the kitchen, Lorranna couldn't help but notice the state it was in. She saw several different doors that led to who knew where and boxes stacked in different corners of the home that were collecting dust. One room, which she saw with the door open, looked to be an infirmary on one side of it and an office on the other. Another room that she passed looked like it used to be some kind of operating room, and was turned into a laboratory station.

When she finally reached the kitchen, she saw that it was a little more well-kept than the rest of the rooms, but the most-used thing there appeared to be the coffee maker. Looking around, it wasn't hard to imagine the room once being the break room for hospital staff that might have once worked here. She had asked about the history of this building on the way here, and found that it was once an actual hospital, but was going to be torn down when Stein bought it. He apparently hadn't made that many changes to it…

The kitchen was surprisingly in a different style than the rest of the building, which Stein explained to be Lorranna's mother's doing. While they had dated, she had insisted that she would not cook in a kitchen that looked like a horror movie, having him do all the heavy lifting until it fit her tastes.

"Yeah… mom didn't like to cook somewhere she wasn't comfortable in…. You can't begin to imagine how weird she got…." Lorranna muttered under her breath as she recalled a time when she was younger and her mother had made a scene in a store, criticizing a clerk about the state of their kitchen appliances.

Stein only laughed softly, knowing what his daughter was talking about. It was one of the things about Lucinda that he had fallen in love with.

"Are you two done yet?! I'm really hungry I could eat a whole cow!" they heard Poppy yell from across the island, already sat down, waiting to be fed.

"So, what do you two want for breakfast?" he asked the two girls, opening the refrigerator to see what he had. "I have some leftovers in here… I need to get milk sometime soon… I think there's cereal in the cupboards…" he started muttering, looking at the half-empty shelves in the fridge.

"Wow, Lorranna…. If I didn't know you were related before, I definitely do now! You both talk the same when you're thinking really really hard!" Poppy chirped under her breath, but loud enough where Stein heard them. Sighing at her friend's stupidity, Lorranna quickly smacked her upside the head, earning a long whine from the girl.

"Why did you do that?" Poppy said, holding the back of her head tenderly where she had been hit.

"You said something stupid."

Stein smiled as he listened to the two girls' banter, finally finding some leftover pasta in the fridge, warmed it in the microwave, and placed it in front of them. "Enjoy."

"Thank you for the food!" both girls said in unison, eating the food in earnest as Stein fixed his morning coffee and a small plate of toast.

After breakfast was over, Stein said that he had some papers to grade and invited the girls to explore the laboratory until he called them for lunch.

During their exploration, Poppy dragged Lorranna to a medium sized room filled with boxes that half of them seemed to have been recently gone through and sorted. In one pile, Lorranna came across some things that looked to be her mother's old cook books and music. In another, she actually found a guitar that had her father's name on it, reminding her of a story that her mother had told her once how her father had won her heart when he had sung to her in public, singing an old romantic song she loved back then.

Time had passed too quickly for her, because one moment she was looking through an old photo album she found, the next she could hear her father call for lunch and Poppy's rushing foot steps towards the kitchen again.

Before leaving the room as well, Lorranna looked back at the room where everything about her parents had been kept. Everything.


	9. Enter DWMA? Do I Have To?

**Chapter 9: Enter DWMA? Do I Have To?**

Lorranna and Stein spent the next few weeks getting to know each other better, Stein even learning what had happened to Lorranna's mother, to which he went silent for a while.

Finally, the day came that Stein would have to return to the Academy to teach; he had used up all of his break days to move the two girls into his home, but he wasn't comfortable with leaving them home alone…

"Lorranna, Poppy," he called to them that morning, gaining their attention, "Could I speak to the two of you for a moment?"

"Of course, Papa," Lorranna said, coming over with her Weapon partner, "What is it?"

"You are aware that I am a teacher at the DWMA, correct?" he asked, and the two girls nodded. He sighed, "Yesterday was the last off day I had available; I need to go back today. That means I'll also be enrolling the two of you in classes, so that you can both learn new skills as Meister and Weapon."

"But Papa, do we have to?" Lorranna asked, whining a little. To her surprise, her father started chuckling softly.

"Do you really want to be separated from me for most of the day most of the time?" he asked, and Lorranna's eyes widened. She hadn't considered that…

"No…" she finally admitted, and her father gave her an affectionate hug.

"Then let's go; I'm about to head to the Academy now," Stein told them both, standing back up. The two girls then started to get a few things together, while the scientist grabbed his car keys…

-time-skip-

"Why are there so many stairs…" Lorranna groaned, finally reaching the top of the massive staircase that led to the main courtyard of DWMA. Her friend was just as tired, but her father wasn't even breathing hard!

"Don't ask me," he said casually, "Ask whoever built this place. Anyway, I'm going to go talk with Lord Death about enrolling you two in classes… How about you go take a look around and meet some of the other students here?"

"Ok, Papa," the blonde girl said, and grabbed Poppy's hand, "Let's go look around!"


	10. New Students At DWMA! Steins Protection?

**Chapter 10 : New Students At DWMA! Stein's Protection?**

When the class gathered in the normal classroom, they realized that Professor Stein was once again sitting behind the teacher's desk, and were instantly full of questions about where he had been. He didn't answer right away, finishing something he was writing, and then looked up at the class when he put the piece of paper away.

"I know that you all must be curious as to the reason for my absence," he said calmly, the sound of his voice quieting the entire class, "But my reasons are my own. Suffice it to say that I was experiencing some difficulties, but the problem has resolved itself, and I am now back."

"But Professor-" Ox, one of the students, started to say, but Stein held up a hand to silence him.

"Now, I am happy to announce that we have two new students joining us today," he told the class at large, and looked over at the door to his left. "Poppy, Lorranna, please come join your new classmates."

The two girls came out happily, and they instantly spotted Maka and Soul in the crowd, remembering them from when they first found Stein. After the class at large greeted the two, the girls joined Maka and Soul at their seats, and the class went on to a surprising lesson: Stein, rather than doing another dissection lab, was actually giving a lesson on different abilities that a soul wavelength might have, and when it was over, everyone was amazed at how much the Meister knew about all this…

-time-skip-

Later that same day, Stein was busy with overseeing some sparring sessions when he sensed it. A witch's soul.

"Everyone, get behind me," he ordered, turning to face the direction of the soul. It was coming closer, even as the students crowded behind their Professor, worried about what he had sensed.

Then…

The door to the gym was blasted down by a flurry of black arrows, and a familiar figure walked in… dragging Maka behind her!

"Medusa…" Stein hissed, glaring at the woman that had masqueraded as a doctor for the DWMA. "I should have known…"

"Well, this little girl somehow figured it out," the woman sneered, throwing Maka's unconscious form at the taller man, who easily caught her. "And since my cover was already blown… I decided I would have some fun before leaving."

"You won't be hurting any more of these kids, Medusa," Stein said coldly, passing Maka to her partner, "Not while I'm here."

"Ah, but you are unarmed, Stein," the witch crooned silkily, adding, "And unless you can get close, you cannot use your soul wavelength directly to attack me. Looks like I can easily win this fight."

"Don't be too sure of yourself," the Professor said, smiling a little, "You never know what might happen…"

"Enough talk, I think it's about time I finish you off for good!" the witch smiled, her face appearing nearly identical to a snake's! "Nake, snake, cobra cobra… Vector Arrow!"

Stein didn't dodge. If he did, the students behind him would take the full attack. Instead, he used his soul wavelength directly to destroy a handful of the black arrows… but a good five or six stabbed into his body and caused a wave of agonizing pain that nearly brought him to his knees, but he somehow remained standing! Then, surprisingly, he was grinning.

"You're gonna…" he panted, "Have to do better… than that to take me down…"

"Vector Arrow!" A larger cloud of arrows headed for the Meister and the children, but to everyone's surprise, a large, black-bladed scythe suddenly appeared in Stein's hands, and the Meister was barely able to destroy most of the arrows, only a single one managing to get through and slice into his side! "What?!"

"Thanks, Spirit…" Stein said out of relief, glad that his old partner had arrived.

"She hurt Maka. That means she has to pay," the Death Scythe said simply, and Stein could only agree. Then, turning to face the witch again, he grinned a little manically.

"Looks like... the tables have turned... Medusa," the scientist said, earning a narrow-eyed glare from the witch.

"Perhaps… But perhaps not," she told him, smirking again, "After all, how long do you think you'll last before you bleed out? Those aren't minor wounds I've given you, after all."

"If I die…" Stein said, his voice almost a growl, even as he fought to catch his breath, "It will only... be after I've done... all I can…. to protect these children!"

With that last word, he charged straight for the witch, his soul resonance with Spirit causing the blade to grow and glow bright blue, as he prepared to attempt to take down the witch that threatened his students!

More arrows.

More pain.

More blood.

Stein was fighting to stay on his feet, to stay conscious, as he glared at the witch. He'd managed to get her in the upper arm, but it was a superficial wound at best.

"Face it, Stein," Medusa purred, walking closer to him, "You can't win. Just accept it already."

Before the scientist could growl out a response, however, there was another voice that rose over the rest!

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY PAPA!" A black blur came out of seemingly-nowhere, and Medusa's head snapped back as a foot connected with her chin! Lorranna, her hood and mask now covering most of her head and face, was holding Poppy's kusarigama-form in her hands, a fiery glare pointed at the witch, and in a battle stance. Rapidly twirling the weapon in her hands, she ran at Medusa, intent on killing the woman who so badly wounded her beloved father!

"Well, what a surprise," the witch said cooly, dodging the attack, "It looks like I've overstayed my welcome… Oh, well, I guess I'll have to play with you kiddies another time."

And, without warning, black arrows formed under the witch's feet, and she was launched away from the Academy, leaving the students with their Professor, who was barely able to stay on his feet…

"Stein, how you holding up?" Spirit asked worriedly, transforming back into human form. The scientist opened his mouth to answer, blood from his internal injuries trickling from the corners of his lips, but then he let out a soft groan, and collapsed, his eyes rolling back into his head. "STEIN!"

Death Scythe caught his former Meister under the arms, shocked at how heavy he was, and worried about the sheer amount of blood staining his clothes.

Lorranna jumped to the Death Scythe's side as she put her arm around her father, keeping another pressed against one of Stein's wounds. "He's losing a lot of blood! Let me help you carry him to the infirmary! Is there anyone else at this school who can help him?!"

He nodded, thinking of Lord Death as he and Lorranna carried the injured man to the Death Room, leaving the rest of the students behind as only Death the Kid and Maka followed them.


	11. Is It Over? The Starlight Festival!

**Chapter 11 Is It Over? The Starlight Festival**

It had taken Spirit less time than it would have taken to drag Stein to Lord Death in his room with Lorranna's help, a young man who had a small clinic in town summoned there to see to Stein's significant injuries. The small-time doctor had promptly told Spirit and the girl to leave the room so he could operate, to which caused Lorranna to react violently against, threatening the man with words he hadn't known the girl to have knowledge of yet.

It had actually surprised him how protective Lorranna had become of his old partner, but he guessed that's what happened when you found your long-lost father, especially a Stein.

Finally, after hours of waiting, the doctor had come out of the room and announced that Franken Stein would be alright with a proper amount of pain-medications and sleep. Maka, Kid, and some of the other students who had sat with the blonde-haired girl once their shock had disappeared, gave compliments and best wishes for the Professor's health.

It took a month before Stein was healed enough, and another three weeks before he was strong enough to teach a class the entire day, Professor Sid taking over his classes until then.

That next week, Lorranna had overheard from a couple of students talking about getting new kimonos and what they should do with their hair, thoroughly confusing her. When she and Maka were walking back from the library, Lorranna wanting to visit there, she finally asked her about it.

"Is it really that time of year already?! Wow, time sure does seem to fly when you're having fun…." Maka said, a pleasant look on her face as she talked about it, and explained that the Starlight festival was something they celebrated every hundred years, when a blue moon would be seen in the sky. According to a book Maka had read, they had originally called it the Hundred-Year Moon festival, but had changed the name some years back. Either way, the event always promised to be fun and was seen as a holiday, letting students time off from school to celebrate with friends and family.

Hearing this, Lorranna thought of her father, and thought it would be a nice event to go to with him, remembering that he had told her during her first few weeks here that he had not gone to a festival since Lorranna's mother and he were younger. Thanking Maka for the knowledge, she headed towards her father's office.

"Papa?" she asked, opening the door a little, "You in here?"

"Lorranna?" her father's voice came, still a little tired from his long recovery, and she smiled.

"Don't tell me you're still working, Papa. How about you and me go do something...like go to the festival together?" she asked him, and he turned to her in surprise.

"I'm… not really sure what I'll do there…" he admitted, rubbing the back of his head and turning the giant screw in his head once, "I've… never really spent much time out at events like that…"

"Why not?" the blonde asked curiously, and her father let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

"Because nobody was really that set on spending time with 'Franken Freakazoid,' Lorranna," Stein said, a little bitterly. "I was never really the most popular kid in school…"

"That's not true, Papa. If it was, you and mama would never have gotten together." Lorranna said, her face threatening to break into a smile.

Chuckling at his daughter's words, he said, "That's because the first time Lucinda and I met was by pure accident at the music store." Stein explained. "Your mother was, as you are probably aware of, easily excitable when it came to anything involving music, flowers, and baked goods. The only reason why I had gotten off so easily bumping into her was because she saw I had a copy of some guitar music in my hands, talking about the beauty of string instruments…." Stein said, laughing at the memory of how he and Lucinda had met… It certainly beat how Spirit and his wife had met…

"So does that mean you'll come with me to the festival?" Lorranna asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.

Seeing that look, and trying to resist its pull, Stein gave in. "Why not?"

Days passed quickly after that until lights decorated the streets with people dressed in traditional bright kimonos and yukata, the girl's hair done in elaborate styles, while children ran with bright sparklers in their hands. There some waiting at certain locations throughout the city, waiting to see a blue moon, which was only seen every hundred years.

After leaving her home where she and her friends had appointed to meet at, she found them in front of the steps of the DWMA. The colors the boys were wearing were expected; Kid wearing black and white with a skull on the back, Black Star wearing blue and white with star patterns on the bottom and top half, and Soul wearing a plain maroon kimono. The girls all looked great.

"Oh wow, Maka! Where did you get that beautiful kimono?!" Tsubaki asked, touching the red and pink sleeve, decorated in flowers of different shades of pink and red. It really was an incredible kimono when you looked at it.

"Lorranna made it for me. We went kimono shopping the other day, but none of the places had many left or had ones that I didn't like." Maka said, causing everyone's eyes to widen a little bit at their friends new heard ability.

Just then, they could hear Lorranna's voice. "Hey you guys!" Lorranna called, Professor Stein not far behind the girl wearing a grey-green yukata with his usual stitch-patterns in various places, a white coat over his shoulders that looked similar to his lab coat.

Lorranna's kimono was noticeably very beautiful once she got closer to them; the kimono itself and bottom half of her sleeves and kimono being two different shades of blue with small, white and blue flowers on it. Her obi was a darker shade of blue with a bright red string tying it together. Her hair was worn in a plaited braid that hung over her shoulder.

"Hey Maka, you guys. Ready to go?" Lorranna asked, everyone nodding their heads in anticipation.

"Oh yeah! I'm ready to try out the strength machine, so I can show everyone just how much of a Star I am!" Black Star cried out, his fists pumping in the air as Tsubaki shyly smiled next to him, wearing a soft green and teal kimono with tsubaki flowers decorating it.

-(Stein POV)-

He had to admit, even though he had some reluctance on going to the festival at first, he was glad he had come. The Starlight festival was much like an actual festival, with food and game stalls lined up down the lit streets. He noticed several times children running with sparklers in their hands as they chased one another, large smiles on their faces.

Looking back at his daughter and her group of friends, he noticed a smile also decorating her face as Black Star was trying to stuff his face with as much food as his body allowed until he started choking, prompting his weapon partner and Soul to began helping the boy by hitting his back. Maka during this time was berating the star-haired boy, telling him he shouldn't eat so much if he was just going to choke on it, while everyone simply watched.

Stein can't help but wish he had been there when Lorranna when she was younger, letting her experience all of this back then. He would've gone shopping with Lucinda, his wife after they would marry, and pick out a cute kimono for his little girl that would be pink. Later, he would hold her hand as he led her to all the different stalls before he would place her on his shoulders when she was tired, watching the fireworks that would be seen later from the center of town.

Thinking of all of this caused a small tear to escape his eyes before he wiped it away, not wanting to worry Lorranna since this night was for her to have fun with her friends. Things might've not happened how they were supposed to, but he and his daughter were reunited, and that's what mattered.

As the night crept on, everyone gathered in the town square to watch the Blue moon appear before people would shoot fireworks into the sky once the clocks struck Midnight.

"Five!" tension began building, people holding their breaths in anticipation. Tsubaki's eyes were closed, hands held in a silent prayer as her mouth moved with it.

"Four!" Children looked with gleaming eyes, along with Soul and Black Star, as if staring at the clock would make it go any faster. The moon was by now visible, creeping teasingly behind gray clouds, in all its shining glory. Maka, unsurprisingly, had her head in a book, but looked up occasionally to make sure she didn't miss the rare opportunity to see such a moon.

"Three!" Their parents holding hands as lovers held onto one another, one actually in the process of proposing to his girlfriend who tearfully said the words. Kid watched the couple fondly, eyes softened at the pair while Liz and Patty watched with him.

"Two!" Stein suddenly felt Lorranna grab his hand as her eyes were fixed on the clocks hands, feeling smaller in his much larger, rough hand that showed his dedication to training for so many years.

"One!" The noise was unimaginable as people yelled at the top of their lungs in celebration, most likely loud enough to be heard from DWMA, but he had clearly heard his daughter's voice next to him say, "Love you, Papa."


	12. Valentines Day Mission!

**Chapter 12 Valentines Day Mission!**

After the Starlight Festival, things had calmed down at DWMA; classes still sucked, Professor Stein still dedicated some of his classes to dissection, and missions were still handed out on a daily basis to only third year students and higher, which Lorranna and Poppy were able to experience three days ago, sent to take care of a Kishin that had taken to terrorizing a small country town in America, commiting crimes of vandalism that were starting to get out of hand. When she had returned, however, everyone was rightfully buzzing about an upcoming event at School and was every boy's nightmare….

Valentines Day.

After talking it over with Maka and some of the others, who said they were going to participate that year, Lorranna couldn't help but feel a little nervous about it. She used to spend Valentine's Day alone with her mother, the two doing something simple together like go shopping or eating out, but things would now be different as this time she was spending the day with her father.

Deep in her musing, Lorranna didn't notice where she was walking until she felt herself bumping into something, landing harshly on her butt.

"Are you alright, Miss Lorranna?" she heard a voice ask, sounding male. Looking up, Lorranna noticed that it was Kid, who held out a hand to her. Grabbing it, she let Kid pull her up.

"Yeah, nothing is broken… except my pride maybe.." Lorranna said, muttering out the last part. She did have an amount of pride, something her mother used to make fun of her when Lorranna used to do something that got herself hurt before tending to her daughter.

"That's good.." Kid began to say until he stopped before acting like he spotted something on her.

"What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"Your..hair...it…..It's not symmetrical!" was all Kid said before he started correcting her hair, smoothing it back in an obsessive manner for about an hour before stopping, finding his work acceptable.

Deciding to change the subject, blushing at his action, Lorranna asked him what he was doing in this part of the school, noticing he was in a hurry before.

"My father called a meeting with the Death Scythes, and I was to prepare their rooms should they want to stay the night or more." was Kids reply.

"Maybe I could help you?" the blonde asked, still blushing a bit. "It'll go faster with two of us working!"

"That would be acceptable." And with that, the two set out to get the rooms ready.

They actually ran into a few of the Death Scythes as they went about their work, one of them being a cheerful, blonde-haired woman named Marie Mjolnir, wearing a black and yellow themed dress, an eyepatch covering her left eye, and took to talking with her longer than the others.

"You're Stein's daughter? Oh wow! I didn't know that man had any children!" When Marie had found out about Lorranna's relation to Stein, she went on for hours like this, talking about the times she had met him. Marie kind've reminded Lorranna of her of an older version of her weapon-partner, Poppy, especially when she got ahold of sugar. The rest of the conversation afterwards somehow led to talking about Valentines Day, asking them if they had someone in mind to give chocolate to.

"Ummm… actually," Lorranna said awkwardly, "I don't really have anyone special in my life right now… And the only family I have is my Papa…"

Kid looked at her in surprise. Since he had been with the others when the father and daughter had found each other, he knew some of their history, but he had believed Lorranna's mother was also alive, but apparently that wasn't the case. Thinking of a plan in that instant, Kid blushed a little as he stepped a little closer to her. Noticing the boy's action, Marie smiled sweetly before bidding them farewell.

"Lorranna?" Kid asked, attracting the girl's attention, "Do you… want something to eat?"

"Sure." Lorranna replied, prompting the two as they headed over to the kitchens to fix themselves a meal.

Once there, Kid surprisingly asked her to sit down while he fixed them something. "You can cook?"

"Yes, I can. When you live with Liz, who can only make pastries, and Patty, who can somehow burn water, you learn very quickly how to make meals. Plus, my father thought it a very important skill to learn for the future." Kid replied as he pulled ingredients from different cabinets.

Lorranna did not have to wait long before two plates of spaghetti were placed on the table, smelling very tempting to her.

"This looks amazing, Kid! And I really like the death-head meatballs" Lorranna said, laughing slightly as Kid beamed with pride at the compliment.

"Thank you." he said, leaving the rest of the meal in a comfortable silence. After their meal, Kid finally spoke up.

"I know the situation with your father, but what about you mother? Where is she?" At the question, Lorranna's face visibly saddened. "You don't have to tell me! I don't know what came over me to ask such a thing, but you don't have to-"

"No. I'll tell you" Lorranna said, stopping Kid as she took a long sigh. "Before I tell you, I want to tell you what she was like…

"My mother, Lucinda, was one of those people you could meet once and instantly like her. She was also passionate in everything she did, from cooking to singing to simple chores around our house. There is not one memory of her in my mind that she isn't smiling in," looking out a window, Lorranna continued talking about her mother, a sad smile forming on her mouth. "People always said I looked like her, having the same hair and everything, except my eyes. That was only difference between us, and we were very close because of it," Just as quickly as she had smiled, it faded as she began to talk again. "One night while I was asleep, I was woken up by my mom, who told me that we needed to get out. I could sense the heat from my bedroom, but I had no idea what was going on at the time. We made it to a window, everything burning around us, and I managed to climb out when a large beam fell on her, crushing her legs underneath. Some of our neighbors were outside, a few coming close enough to drag me away, but the flames were too much for anyone to go inside and get her out….." Tears were now freely falling from her eyes, remembering the horrible event that took her mother away from her.

Lorranna had never seen Kid move so fast, suddenly embracing her in a tight hug as he leapt to her side, tears also coming from his eyes.

"You don't have to say anymore… I understand." Kid spoke into her ear, holding her tighter as she heard his words. Closing her eyes as she felt the energy leave her, Lorranna leaned into his hug.

They stayed like that for a while before Kid released her, taking a finger to wipe the tears from her eyes and stood up, walking towards the fridge.

"Liz and Patty made plenty of these at least about two weeks before Valentines was announced, so I doubt they will be that much missed" Kid said as he pulled out a small box, lifting the lid to show an amount of chocolate spheres inside.

Lorranna looked at Kid in surprise, and he looked into her eyes and said, "Happy Valentines day."


	13. Valentines Day Mission Part 2!

**Chapter 13 : Valentines Day Mission Part 2! Can I Have This Dance?**

"So, Kid," Lorranna said slowly, looking at the son of Death out of the corner of her eye, "Did you notice how Ms. Marie got really animated when I mentioned my Papa?" Kid nodded.

"What about it?" Kid asked, curious where this conversation was heading.

"Well… I was just thinking that _we_ do something about that." Lorranna responding, a sly smile forming on her face, making Kid nervous. He had seen that smile once before on Professor Stein, right before he had given a surprise pop-quiz on how to properly dissect a bird. "After all, didn't that Valentines Day announcement say that EVERYONE was supposed to participate?" By now, a large grin stretched across her face in a manner that Patty would call a "s***-eating grin," and Kid couldn't help but feel sorry for the Professor now, knowing what was on Lorranna's mind.

-time-skip-

The whole next day was spent in preparation for pairing up Professor Stein with Marie, setting them up to think the other had sent a Valentines and confront each other about it, activating part two that Lorranna didn't tell him about yet. From what he could tell, it would involve music if the sheets of music and a beautifully made guitar was any hint.

The day of Valentine's Day was understandably chaotic; students and teachers interrupted in class and out of, receiving Valentines of all shapes and sizes. There were also bright decorations along the walls and ceilings of the school, which had been an idea drawn up by a student council that Kid was surprised they even had, and flyers that explained at the end of the week the DWMA would be hosting a Valentine's Day party, Professor Stein providing the music and entertainment. Kid had noticed a few students take a double look at that part, some of them exclaiming loudly.

When the day of the dance finally came at the end of the week, Lorranna had filled Kid in to more of the finer details of their plans… as well as leave Kid nervous to follow through with something he was thinking the entire week of doing during the dance. It took some self-motivation speeches, but he had managed to save enough confidence to do it. Hopefully things went according to plan…

Like the Starlight festival in the town, the ballroom at the DWMA was decorated with streamers and lights along several places, students and teachers alike dressed up in mid-formal clothing. Lorranna was happily setting up the spot where her father would be playing his guitar and singing, while a band that her father somehow had connections with had come to join them.

"Everything's ready, Papa," she said, turning to her father, who had just come over. He was wearing a nice (by his standards) outfit, a semi formal suit with his classic stitching patterns on it, and looked a little nervous.

"I don't know how you managed to talk me into this, Lorranna…" he said, as he picked up his guitar. Lorranna giggled, smoothing out the leaf-green and pale gold skirt of her dress.

"Because I'm your darling little daughter and you cannot refuse me," she told him, getting a smile and an eye-roll in response.

"And I suppose you've gotten me a date as well, have you?" he asked, and Lorranna grinned widely.

"You bet, Papa! Your date is Ms. Marie!"

Then, the others started to come into the ballroom, and they looked around in awe at the decorations, and more than a few stared wide-eyed at Professor Stein with his guitar and sheet music. At the same time, Lorranna caught sight of Kid.

"Oh! There's Kid! I gotta go, Papa! Good luck!" she told Stein, and hurried off towards where her own date was looking for her.

"Lorranna, there you are!" the son of Death said, catching sight of her. Then, he blushed. "You… you look very lovely…"

"And you look very handsome in your suit, Kid," Lorranna told him, also blushing. "Come on, Papa's got a fun song he's going to do first, and then it's going to go into slower songs later on! I'm going to help with one or two, but otherwise I'm all yours!" The way Lorranna had said that caused Kid's face to blush, ending at the top of his ears. He hoped his father didn't hear that, or else he wouldn't hear the end of it.

Stein walked towards the center of the stage as the lights hit him, blinding him for a minute as someone wolf-whistled from the crowd. "Umm.. hello. According to my daughter who convinced me to do this, I'm going to play some songs here tonight for you. Behind me are some old friends of mine, the Soul Singers, and I hope you enjoy." Turning to the group behind him, he began singing the first song called "Little Arrows" as people filtered onto the dance floor.

"Come on, Kid!" Lorranna said happily, grabbing her date's hand, "Let's go dance!" as they headed into the mob of people already dancing to the song.

Death, who sat a ways off at a table with Azusa and Justin, noticed his son get dragged onto the dance floor by a pretty blonde girl, noticing it was Lorranna, and chuckled. No doubt Kid would be praying that He didn't see them, but nothing about his son escaped his eyes. But tonight was about him having fun, he wouldn't say anything….for now.

The next few songs played together, everyone thoroughly impressed and surprised Stein had such a gift for music and singing. At one point, to everyone's amusement, Spirit tried to get Maka to dance with him during one of the first slow dances, to which she flatly denied him as she took Soul's hand, happening to sit beside her.

Then, later on in the evening, Stein surprisingly stepped away from the microphone, letting Lorranna up on stage!

"Ok, everyone, we have two more songs left planned for the tonight, and after that, it's probably going to be time for everyone to head home!" the blonde girl announced, and got mixed reactions from it. "Now, this next song is called 'A Thousand Years...:'"

Stein left the stage, quickly finding Marie in the crowd as his daughter started to sing, and the two smiled at each other.

"Marie… would you care to join me for a dance?" Stein asked nervously, and was surprised when the blonde happily grabbed his hand.

"Of course, Stein!"

The two took to the dance floor, somehow ending up in a clear space in the middle, as the song played out so romantically. Stein was a surprisingly-skilled dancer, simply directing Marie with his hand and arm motions, and Marie barely had to think about what she was doing. The pair soon felt like they were in their own little world, with only them and the music existing, as the two of them stared into each other's eyes. For some reason, Marie had forgone her normal eyepatch, revealing her special golden eye that she often hid. Then, without realizing it, the two gradually came closer together as they danced, until they were nearly stepping on each other's feet. As the song drew down to a close, Stein decided to take a bit of a leap, and drew Marie close to him… and lowered her into a dip, bending down with her in the classic ending to the romantic dances he'd seen in so many movies.

Marie was blushing, staring into his grey-green eyes in amazement, as he smiled down at her, being careful not to drop her. When he brought her back up into a standing position, they became aware of the fact that the others around them had stopped dancing and were clapping in appreciation, many of them looking extremely shocked at the display of skill.

As Stein made his way back to the stage, Spirit pulled him aside slightly with an unreadable expression on his face. "Where the heck did you learn to do _that_?!" he asked, causing Stein to smile at his friend's obvious curiosity.

"Lucinda used to drag me to where she liked to listen to the music, so I thought I'd surprise her one day… plus I like learning new things. Bet you wish you had learned how to dance before your wedding, huh?" Stein replied, walking off as steam was almost visibly coming out of Spirit's ears. ' _If that bastard could dance like that, then why didn't I see him do that at my wedding?!'_ was all he could think.

"Thank you, sweetheart, but I'll take it over from here," Stein said to his daughter.

"Alright!" Lorranna replied, getting off stage and walking back over to where Kid stood, impressed by the fact that Lorranna's gray-green eyes and temper were not the only things she inherited from her father.

"This last song is "Don't Answer Me," Stein said, the music behind him already starting as couples paired up to dance on the dance floor.

"Would you… care to dance?" Kid asked Lorranna, who smiled brightly, taking Kid's outstretched hand as the song began. And much like with Stein and Marie, time seemed to slow down for the two, leaving them to believe they were the only ones left in the room.

Kid, though he wasn't as skilled as Stein, was still able to dance with ease with Lorranna, who simply followed whatever her date was doing. In her gown, she looked like she belonged in a castle, with knights in shining armor obeying her every command. And in Kid's eyes, she was indeed a princess. When she twirled, her hair seemed to float like pale golden threads on the breeze, and she seemed light as a feather on her feet. Then, as the song started to draw to a close, Kid was a little disappointed, wanting this night to last forever. Without thinking, he brought her closer to him, leaning towards her as he silently directed her to lean backwards, their lips almost touching…

And then, the song ended, bringing them back to reality, staring deeply into each other's eyes. Their thoughts were blank for a few seconds, simply unable to comprehend what had just happened...


	14. Is This Love? There's A Hidden Threat!

**Chapter 14 Is this Love? There's a Hidden Threat!**

The Valentines Day dance had started a number of things since everyone had left; some of which being a story going around that after their dance, Professor Stein and Ms. Marie were now dating. Students had even claimed to have seen then coming out of a restaurant, Stein holding the door for her like a gentleman.

But something else that had happened since that dance. A feeling that both Kid and Lorranna had never felt before when they had stared into the other's eyes had confused them to a point where they had become avoiding each other. They still went to the same class and saw each other around the city, but they didn't speak, too shy to speak of what had almost happened.

Both had, in their confusion, gone to others for advice of what they were feeling.

Lorranna had decided to ask during a day with her female friends as they hung out at in the city, earning a shared and knowing look from all of them. She was asked what she felt when she looked at the striped-haired boy, and what she thought when she wasn't around him. At the end of their questioning, they told her she was in love, but that couldn't be right! Could it?

Was this what love felt like?

Kid had gone, with every fiber of his body against the idea, to his father, who had laughed at first at his son's predicament, calming down when Kid had actually developed a look similar to Spirit's. Death asked Kid a few questions like what what he was feeling and what he felt when he was with Lorranna. He added to question what Kid tended to think when he was away from the girl. Satisfied with Kid's answers, Death told him honestly that Kid was in love. But was that really what he felt? He had always heard that when someone fell in love, they knew it automatically, so was this what Kid was feeling? Was this love?

Not satisfied just yet, he turned to Stein, whom he knew had been in love before. When he first started talking to the scientist, the Professor had listened carefully to his every word, and then started to explain an experience he had himself.

"Listen closely, Kid. I'm going to tell you about when I started seeing my first girlfriend, Lucinda," the Professor started, Kid's head snapping at the name of Lorranna's mother as Stein sat next to the young Reaper. "When I first ran into her at the music shop, what struck me first was how kind and understanding she was, especially seeing as I had literally run into her because I was too focused on some sheet music I was about to purchase. I didn't know what the feeling I experienced when I saw her was then, but somehow, she started to take up more and more of my thoughts every day.

"After a few weeks of somehow ending up running into each other again, falling deeper into that feeling, Lucinda and I decided to… try things out. We went out to eat at the café, the same one that you saw when we went out to find something to remind me of that time I forgot, and talked about how we felt about each other." Stein smiled, remembering that time with fondness. "I was surprised to find out that she had been thinking about me in the same way that I thought about her, and we started to see each other more often. By the time I turned eighteen, we had been seeing each other for about three months, and we cared about each other and loved each other deeply. It took a while to figure it out, though. That's the thing; love isn't always immediately recognizable, especially to those who are feeling it for another for the first time. Those people who say that they felt that they were in love immediately, a lot of them are just characters in a movie. In real life, only those who have loved and lost then loved again know the feeling immediately."

Kid knew that Stein was thinking of Ms. Marie as he said this, thinking harder about his feelings about Lorranna until he came to a concrete decision.

"Thank you for the explanation, Professor Stein. It really helped me." Stein smiled at this, clapping a large hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Good for you, Kid. Glad I was able to help… 'cause if you hurt my little girl, Karma is gonna be a real witch, if you get my meaning?" using a small amount of his wavelength as he said this, putting added weight onto Kid's shoulder.

"I understand sir, and I wouldn't dream of letting anything hurt her so long as I'm around." Kid said in a firm voice, the scientist's grip loosening.

"Good. Now go find her and tell her how you feel." Stein said, giving Kid a small push out his door as he broke into a sprint.

Elsewhere, at the entrance to Death City, a young man with dirty blonde hair and ragged clothing walked down the streets, a white eye patch covering his left eye and a bright orange pumpkin mask hanging off his head. A small book laid open in his hands covered in cut-out pictures of one thing: a girl with blonde hair and green eyes that he had become obsessed- I mean developed a crush on ever since he saw her a year ago.

"Lorranna…. Lovely Lorranna…. You're so pretty, you know that? So pretty, just like the butterflies that I love to collect…" a strange and crazed smile stretching across his pale face, "Can I collect you too when I find you?"


	15. The Confession! Who Is This Guy?

**Chapter 15 : The Confession! Who Is This Guy?!**

Kid ran through the halls, his head turning as he looked for Lorranna, stopping every now and then to ask others if they had seen her. Now that he understood his feelings, he wanted to at least tell her what he had been feeling for a while now.

He finally found her sitting by the water fountain alone with a small novel in her hands. The scene itself looked like something from a painting that belonged in the Louvre in France, where only the most beautiful paintings and sculptures in the world were kept, but Kid shook his head of his thoughts as he approached her.

"Hey Lorranna. Mind if I sit with you?" Lorranna's head perked up when he spoke, her eyes connecting to his for a moment as she nodded, making room for him to sit.

"What are you reading? Is it any good?" he asked, trying to read what the title read.

"It's called 'Beauty and the Beast', a story about how a young girl is trapped by a monster, taking her father's place after he had picked a rose from it's garden, but is starting to fall in love with him. So far it's really good, but I haven't gotten to the end yet." Lorranna said, a small smirk on her face before her eyes widened, returning to the book as she spoke again. "What brings you here, by the way?"

Kid smiled softly, noticing how she was shyly trying to avoid talking to him by covering her face with the book, something he had noticed she would do when something weighed on her mind, yet didn't want to talk about it.

Placing a hand on the book, he brought it down so he could look at her properly when he spoke to her. Her eyes visibly widened at his actions, blushing slightly.

"I came here because there is something that has been weighing on me, but I finally managed to make sense of it, so I came to talk to you," kneeling in front of her as he continued. "After the dance, I began feeling something that I couldn't make heads or tails of because all of them involved you, and I wanted to know so badly that I even asked my father and, later, yours. Professor Stein helped me understand two things, Lorranna. Do you want me to tell you what they were?" Lorranna sat speechless as Kid said this to her, only able to nod.

"I understood that no matter what others may try to tell me, I am the only one who can figure out what my heart is trying to tell me, and the amount of time it takes me to learn that is my own. And the second, well, the second is what my heart just told me; that I love you, Lorranna Stein." and with that, Kid's head lowered to hers, placing his lips softly on hers.

She gasped softly when she felt their lips touch, but didn't pull away. Instead, she set her book to the side, and hesitantly wrapped her arms around Kid, returning the kiss completely. When they separated, she was blushing, whispering four simple words in his ear.

"I love you, too…"

-(Another person's POV)-

He had managed to track his little butterfly to a large school in the center of town, which wasn't hard to find or sneak into.

Like a shadow, a dirty brown/blonde haired boy walked quietly down the hallways as he searched for any sign of his butterfly, thinking of what he would do once he found her. Maybe he would take her to the abandoned apartment he had found the first day he came to the city, where he would keep her for himself for a while. He liked collecting butterflies anyway, and she would be his prized possession.

Since he couldn't seem to find her anywhere inside, he finally found a door that led back outside and continued his search.

"I came here because there is something that has been weighing on me, but I finally managed to make sense of it, so I came to talk to you," he heard a muffled voice nearby say, following where it was coming from to an open part of the courtyard where a large fountain sat, an odd-looking boy sitting next to someone that he couldn't see from this angle, but continued to listen. Maybe listening to these two might give him a hint as to where his butterfly may be hiding.

"After the dance, I began feeling something that I couldn't make heads or tails of because all of them involved you, and I wanted to know so badly that I even asked my father and, later, yours. Professor Stein helped me understand two things, Lorranna," at the sound of his butterfly's name, the boy gasped in rage, seeing the freak kneel in front of his butterfly as he confessed to her. Just who did he think he was?! How could someone like that believe that he had a chance with her, who was close enough to be called a Goddess!

The boy couldn't hear their conversation much with blood pumping loudly in his ears, but when he saw the freak pull her into a kiss, he crossed the line, and he would pay for it!

Almost right after Lorranna said the four words, Kid and Lorranna heard someone yelling something incomprehensible, as they turned around to see a teenaged boy running at them with a kitchen knife in his hand.

Lorranna gasped in surprise when Kid pulled her out of the way of the knife wielder and into his chest in a protective manner.

"Who are you? Why are you attacking us?" Kid demanded, his voice deep as his eyes narrowed at the blade in the attacker's hand.

"You….filthy freak! You dare putting your hands on my butterfly?! Kill…. I'll….I'll kill you!" he yelled again, flailing another attack on them as Kid and Lorranna jumped out of the way. Was this guy on drugs? She had heard of drugs with similar characteristics to the one the boy was showing, but he didn't show any physical signs of being an addict.

"What's going on? We heard a commotion out here!" Lorranna heard Soul yell, many others behind him with a few teachers present.

"She's mine! The butterfly is mine….. You can't have her, you freaks!" the boy yelled again. This time, as he attacked Kid again, he managed to cut down his arm in a clean slice, blood loss quickly causing Kid to fall to the ground.

A single heartbeat….

'Kid…'

And then another…..

'Get up'

And another….

'Get...up….'

Another…

"KID!" Lorranna screamed, and turned on the strange teenage boy, her grey-green eyes burning like fire in her fury. "HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU HARM HIM?!"

She lashed out at the teen with her nails, which, when one thought about it, could be considered claws. She gouged her nails across the boy's upper arm, and then delivered a swift kick to the… southern area, bringing the boy down to his knees! The blonde then grabbed him by his shirt and flipped him over her back, slamming his face into the fountain behind her, and then, taking hold of his right ankle, using strength that was uncharacteristic of her small frame, swung him around and threw him into a wall!

Standing in the same place for a few seconds, panting from her exertion, she calmed down a little, her violent conniption fit having helped with her anger, and then turned towards Kid, hurrying to his side and pulling his sleeve away from his injured arm.

"Kid? Kid, can you hear me?" she asked softly, worried about the amount of blood he was losing. The crazed teen had apparently cut part of a main artery in the young Reaper's arm, and it was making the blonde feel a little panicked as she looked over at the crowd. "Where's my Papa?! Kid's really badly hurt!"

"I'm right here, Lorranna." Stein said, hurrying over and kneeling next to them, pulling out a large box from his lab coat and a roll of bandages, applying pressure to the deep wound as he looked to the wound.

"I've managed to slow the bleeding for now, but he needs to come with me to get properly stitched up," Stein said, asking Professor Sid to carry Kid to his office.

"Let me come with you!" Lorranna pleaded, only to be stopped by Stein.

"I know you want to be with Kid, Lorranna, but the best thing you can do for him right now is take this young man and bring him to the Dungeons until someone can interrogate him later." he replied, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Ok..."


End file.
